Manufacture and treatment of textile fabrics



Patented May 6, 1941 MANUFACTURE AND TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS Henry Dreyfus, London, England N Drawing.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture and treatment of textile fabrics and particularly to the manufacture of textile fabrics exhibiting crpe effects.

Fabrics exhibiting crpe effects are produced, in general, by weaving a fabric which contains yarns which have been twisted to such a high degree that on treating the fabric with a hot aqueous liquor the highly twisted yarns shrink and cockle, thus imparting to the fabric the characteristic crepe appearance. The treatment with hot aqueous liquors is generally referred to as the "crping treatment and will be so referred to in the present specification and claims.

It has now been discovered that the efficiency of the crping treatment may be very considerably improved by vigorously agitating the crping liquor, and/or the fabric undergoing crping, during the crping treatment. By this means it has been found possible to produce crepe effects of more pronounced nature than are obtained by a similar treatment without the agitation or, alternatively, to produce a satisfactory crepe effect; on fabrics containing threads twisted to a somewhat lower degree than is necessary to give a similar crepe effect under ordinary conditions.

The degree of agitation employed in accordance with the present invention, considered as relative movement between the crping liquor and the fabric, is greater than arises with the usual gently boiling creping liquor. The vigorous agitation may be effected by various means. Thus the crping liquor may be agitated by boiling it very vigorously or by forcing bubbles of gas, for exampleair, into the crping liquor, e. g. from nozzles situated at the bottom of the vessel containing the crpin'g liquor. The nozzles so employed are preferably relatively coarse, as bubbles of a substantial size are much more efficient than fine bubbles. The bubbles should be comparable in size to thoseproduced by vigorous ebullition. Mechanical agitation of the crping liquor by means'of stirring devices, e. g. paddles, reciprooa ting vanes and the like may be employed as well as or instead of one or more of the expedients already mentione Even when the liquor is vigorously agitated it is preferable also to agitate the fabric .u-ndercoin c-eping while if the liquor is not agitted this is of course essential to the invention. This agitation may be effected in various ways. One convenient method is to feed the fabric through the vessel containing the crping liquor while supporting it on a vibrating perforated t y, 6- g. a w gau e tray- Another is to sus- Application July 23, 1938, Serial No.

Great Britain August 14, 1937 sisting of cellulose acetate yarns, which are difiicult to crepe by ordinary methods. Particularly good results are obtained by the treatment, in accordance with this invention, of fabrics in which the high twist yarns, especially if they have a basis of cellulose acetate or other organic derivative of cellulose, have been twisted. by a. process in which at least the last part of the twist is inserted in the presence of steam, preferably moist steam, or hot water. In this connection reference is made to U. S. Patent No. 2,089,191. 7

It has been found desirable in order to obtain the best results to subject the fabric to the creping treatment of the present invention while the fabric is still in the condition in which it was originally woven, e. g. without any intermediate cool-scouring treatment.

The following examples illustrate without in any way limiting the invention:

Example 1 A fabric comprising a cellulose acetate weft which has been highly twisted in presence of wet steam, and a substantially untwisted cellulose acetate warp, is subjected to a crping treatment in a vigorously boiling bath containing 5v gms. of soap per litre. The fabric is suspended by a series of strings. The production of the crepe effect is more rapid if the strings, and thus the fabric, are kept in constant motion.

Example 2 A fabric in which both warp and weft consist of regenerated cellulose yarns, which may be made by the viscose or cuprammonium process 'orby saponifying a stretched or unstretched cellulose acetate yarn, the weft yarns being highly twisted, is suspended by bath containing 5 gms. of soap per litre. The bath is kept in a state of vigorous ebullition or is agitated both by ebullition and by the passage therethrough of large bubbles of air, and the strings, and through them the fabric, are kept in constant motion. A satisfactory crepe pattern a series of strings in a results. The same treatment may be applied to a fabric containing highly twisted regenerated cellulose yarns in the weft and cellulose acetate yarns in the warp.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Process for producing enhanced crepe effects on fabrics containing high twist yarns having a basis of an organic derivative of cellulose, at least part of the twist having been inserted in the presence of moist steam or hot water, which comprises subjecting the fabrics to the action of a hot aqueous liquor while keeping the liquor and the fabric in constant motion relative to each other, such motion being substantially more violent than the relative motion caused by a gentle boiling of the liquor, and being caused by the passage of large bubbles of gas from an external source through the liquor.

2. Process for producing enhanced crpe effects on fabrics containing high twist yarns having a basis of cellulose acetate, at least part of the twist having been inserted in the presence of moist steam or hot water, which comprises subjecting the fabrics to the action of a hot aqueous liquor while keeping the liquor and the fabric in constant motion relative to each other, such motion being substantially more violent than the relative motion caused by a gentle boiling of the liquor, and being caused-by the passage of large bubbles of gas from an external source through the liquor.

HENRY DREYFUS. 

